MILWAUKEE – The Marquette University women’s lacrosse team showed resolve for the second straight game as it erased another second-half deficit en route to an 11-7 win over Vanderbilt at Valley Fields on Wednesday. The win was MU’s sixth of the season, setting a new program record.

Vanderbilt had the momentum with three straight goals and a 7-6 lead midway through the second half, but the Golden Eagles (6-9, 3-2 BIG EAST) answered back with five unanswered tallies over the final 8:25 to close out the win.

Allison Lane was one of three MU players with a hat trick, including her game-tying goal at the 8:25 mark. Grace Gabriel also finished with three goals including the eventual game-winner that came just 30 seconds after Lane’s goal. That was all the Golden Eagles needed to pick up their third BIG EAST win.

“This win was huge,” head coach Meredith Black said. “The biggest hold back in the beginning was the draw. They beat us early on and once we started winning those draws, we were able to control the game.”

Vanderbilt’s 6-3 edge in draw controls and long possessions allowed the game to remain low-scoring with both teams going into halftime tied at 4-4. In the second half, Marquette used a 7-4 advantage off the draw and it paid dividends.

Marquette would open the second half with goals by Lane and Amanda Bochniak to take a 6-4 advantage, but Vanderbilt answered right back with a 3-0 run thanks to a pair of goals by Kelly Chandler, who finished the game with a hat trick and an assist to lead the Commodores (5-10, 1-5 BIG EAST).

The Golden Eagles, who used a 7-0 second-half run to erase a three-goal deficit against Temple last Saturday, put together a 5-0 run against Vanderbilt en route to another comeback win.

In addition to Lane and Gabriel, Julianna Shearer also registered a hat trick. It was her 11th multi-goal game and fifth hat trick of the season, extending her team-lead and single-season program record to 32 goals.

The win improves Marquette’s chances for its first BIG EAST tournament berth in program history as they sit in a third-place tie in the league standings with Georgetown (5-9, 3-2 BIG EAST). The Golden Eagles and Hoyas will meet Saturday in Washington, D.C. with a first draw set for 12 p.m. Central time.

“We’re in the driver’s seat and that’s the best place to be,” Georgetown will be a big game. We’re looking forward to playing them out there, we should have a lot of fans. It’ll be a big challenge for us, but our team has stepped up to a lot of challenges put in front of them to this point, so it will be a great test.”